Exploring the origins of the New Testament canon and other biblical and theological issues

8 Theses That Helps Us Think Biblically about Transgenderism

November 22, 2016

The debate in our culture over sexuality has been raging for a while now. And sometimes it is difficult to find calm and clear voices who can cut through the rhetoric and the posturing and just provide solid biblical teaching on these complex issues.

For this reason, I am thankful for RTS Charlotte’sDr. James Anderson, associate professor of theology and philosophy. In the video below, Dr. Anderson addresses our students at a lunch-time conversation on the issue of transgenderism. It is a wonderfully clear and concise treatment of this important subject.

James is one of the brightest minds in philosophical theology today. Check out his website here, and his latest book Why Should I Believe Christianity?If you are looking to study apologetics, philosophy, or theology, you need to come to Charlotte to study with him.

In this video, James lays out eight helpful theses about transgenderism, followed by some interesting Q&A. Here are the theses:

1. How you think about transgenderism will depend on your anthropology which in turn depends on your broader worldview.

2. The mainstream narrative on transgenderism has been shaped and supported by secular worldviews that are committed to human autonomy.

3. A consistently Christian approach to transgenderism must start with a biblical worldview and a biblical anthropology.

4. A biblical anthropology has to be grounded in the first three chapters of Genesis.

5. Gender dysphoria is a genuine condition which is best understood as a psychological disorder or dysfunction (and perhaps also as a deeper spiritual disorder).

6. The different aspects of transgenderism call for different kinds of Christian responses.

7. Since the biblical view is that there are only two sexes, male and female, and biological sex is the primary indicator of ontological sex, any treatment for gender dysphoria should proceed on the assumption that a person’s biological sex (rather than their gender identity) defines whether they are truly male or female.

Comments

Dr. Kruger! Big fan of Dr. Anderson’s here. I’m currently in Div. School in Birmingham, so I can’t study under Dr. Anderson at the moment. However, I’m wondering if I can make some kind of arrangement to spend a summer in Charlotte taking classes from him (or something akin to that) You all wouldn’t happen to have an opportunity like that, would you?

Thanks, Tucker. Dr. Anderson often offers classes in both the Summer and Winter terms in week-long formats. So you can come to campus either of those times and take a class with him. A number of his classes are also offered in our online program. And, of course, you could always just transfer here to RTS Charlotte! Regardless, to learn more about all these options, reach out to our admissions director Dave Latham: [email protected]

Thank you for publicising this sensible talk, and thank you so much for giving a summary in print. My wife and I had the privilege of being invited to lunch with James when we were in Edinburgh, in 2003. I love his two books on worldview.

I read in an article that “Transgenderism is not supported by science” What I read is – “Former Chief of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University Dr. Paul R. McHugh and Arizona State University professor of statistics and biostatistics Lawrence S. Mayer co-authored the report, which found that “gender identity” is not removed from biological sex. In other words, a man cannot be born in a woman’s body, or vise-versa. ”

The Mayer-McHugh report is, on the whole, a devastating debunking of the idea that there’s a scientific basis for transgenderism.

Michael J. Kruger

Welcome to the website of Michael J. Kruger, President and Samuel C. Patterson Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte, NC. For more on my background and research interests, see here.

About

I am President and Samuel C. Patterson Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte, NC. In addition, I am an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and serve as an Associate Pastor (part-time, of course) at my home church, Uptown PCA.